Sometimes I don't feel like I fit in with the trans community because of my political views

[Transgirlkatie]

This weekend I went to a trans retreat, and I felt like it was hard to meet people I had things in common with. Politically they were way more left wing than I was, like some of them said they don't like aoc or bernie sanders because either they're not left wing enough or are politicians. I tried talking to them about how bad crime is in Oakland, and a lot of them said that gun violence in Oakland or car break ins isn't a big deal. One of them even said that they thought gun shots were a good thing because they lower property values. For me I used to live in Oakland and had my car smashed 3 times in 4 months, and I don't feel safe living there. Seeing on the news that gun violence is surging there also makes me scared to even visit the city. Politically I'm only center left, and believe in doing what countries in the Scandinavian region are doing. I sometimes feel like I don't fit in with other trans woman because I'm not left wing enough, and also am not fully on board with abolishing the police. And during covid I was against lockdowns and mask mandates. In my new area San Jose there isn't as much community there, but it's nice and safe. Which is better than living in an area that has tons of crime. 

[Carolyn Marie]

Trans people come in all political persuasions, @Transgirlkatie.  Within our members, we have far left, moderates, Republicans, etc.  You ran into a particular group of trans folk; they aren't necessarily typical.  It appears true that, from what I've observed, far more trans folk are on the left of the political spectrum than the right, but we're all different.

 

Carolyn Marie

[awkward-yet-sweet]

@Transgirlkatie  I definitely feel the same way as you do.  I don't get into politics too much, but my values and experiences mean that I'm very much against big government, against gun regulations, against taxation, against forced vaccination, against medical tyranny, etc...  In short, it is becoming more rare that I vote for Democrat candidates (and the Democrat candidates I vote for seem to be outliers compared to the rest of the party.) 

 

Even before I started dealing with gender issues, I knew I had same-sex attraction and I lived in a lesbian relationship with my GF.  There were some LGBTQ+ groups in my area, events, and things to do (we lived in the city at that time.)  We both felt rather unwelcome, as the majority of lesbians in the area were rather leftist.  

 

I think the Democrat party in the USA has put in a lot of effort at making it look like they are the only resource for LGBTQ+ folks, and that being a card-carrying leftist is the price of admission to the "club."  The reality is somewhat different.  I think there are a lot of us out there who are either moderate/centrist or Libertarian/right-leaning.  For example, I've recently become friends with a trans girl.  She lives in the city (college town), and she works as a CNA at the hospital where I stayed for a while.  You'd think she'd be a guaranteed Democrat voter...turns out she's more of a centrist.  I think people who subscribe to other viewpoints are more common than we've been led to believe.  I'm looking forward to finding more of them. 

 

[Transgirlkatie]

41 minutes ago, Carolyn Marie said:

Trans people come in all political persuasions, @Transgirlkatie.  Within our members, we have far left, moderates, Republicans, etc.  You ran into a particular group of trans folk; they aren't necessarily typical.  It appears true that, from what I've observed, far more trans folk are on the left of the political spectrum than the right, but we're all different.

 

Carolyn Marie

In my area a lot of the trans people I know of they're far left. But yeah the ones I met were far far left. 

[Colleen Henderson]

2 hours ago, Transgirlkatie said:

One of them even said that they thought gun shots were a good thing because they lower property values. 

Interesting perspective. And broken windows help to support the glass replacement business.

[VickySGV]

As a field investigator (now retired) for the State of CA, Oakland was always a spooky and unstable place to have to go for meetings, although my agency colleagues in the field office there had sat out street unrest (OK, a riot or two) and were pretty immune to the bad vibes I had there.  I do see where one of the comments about the guns came from, and it is close to a specific problem with real estate zoning here in the state.  The problem is that it does come from our state history of how various racial and ethnic groups were treated before the 1960's before many of the minorities could vote.  That is a matter of history which is taught in Community Colleges and State Universities since the early 1970's.  There is work to be done here, but even I agree that the "cures" propounded by some activists in our Trans Population are worse than the disease.  I use the term "population" as in a "Statistical Population" which is one defined trait being counted (Transness) because "community" suggests agreement among its members, and that is only slightly true for Trans People. 

[Aggie1]

2 hours ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

@Transgirlkatie  I definitely feel the same way as you do.  I don't get into politics too much, but my values and experiences mean that I'm very much against big government, against gun regulations, against taxation, against forced vaccination, against medical tyranny, etc...  In short, it is becoming more rare that I vote for Democrat candidates (and the Democrat candidates I vote for seem to be outliers compared to the rest of the party.) 

Coming out as a Republican or Democrat can sometimes be more difficult than coming out as Trans. Here’s my story. I was a reliable Republican voter for the majority of my life. Military and conservative church background and circles I suppose. Since identifying as Trans though I have become a lot more liberal in my social views but I still hold to smaller government and stronger country principles. I’ve seen the negative effects of government run amok even in the military. Too much power in anyones hands is not a good idea. I see the need for a system that fights for a balance of power. Ok, I’ve outed myself as leaning Republican! See, not all Trans are far far left!

[awkward-yet-sweet]

@Aggie1 Glad there's another non-leftist among us 🥰

 

Actually, I consider myself a liberal.  A classical liberal, as in "consistently votes for more freedom and less regulation."  Which sometimes puts me with the Democrats, such as on the issue of abortion.  And sometimes puts me with the Republicans, such as on the issue of guns.  And I tend to believe that people (in spite of original sin) can get together and voluntarily do good things without the government pushing them into it. 

 

What I find discouraging is how polarized politics seems to be creating a world of censorship, and a world where disagreement can't be handled politely or even with vigorous topical discourse.  I'm happy to be friends with people who hold radically different worldviews than mine.  But in today's climate, it seems like each of the different sides views the others as an existential threat...and any deviation from the party line of thought means becoming that threat.  You can't play Devil's Advocate in a debate just for the fun of it, or try to see the other point of view.  Discourse has become quite limited.  

 

 

[Colleen Henderson]

16 minutes ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

But in today's climate, it seems like each of the different sides views the others as an existential threat...and any deviation from the party line of thought means becoming that threat.  

 

That's so noticeable in the "Comments" sections attached to articles with a political bent. It's hard to maintain the proper perspective and remember that many or most of the people who post are long on opinion and very short on facts. There's a large percentage who simply feel special when they "win" an argument - even when it consists primarily of ad hominem attacks.

 

If I spend too much time in that muck, I find myself longing for the pre-internet days - when idiots were pretty much confined to their own villages.

[Aggie1]

3 hours ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

Actually, I consider myself a liberal.  A classical liberal, as in "consistently votes for more freedom and less regulation."  Which sometimes puts me with the Democrats, such as on the issue of abortion.  And sometimes puts me with the Republicans, such as on the issue of guns. 

It’s hard to know which party is the “freedom” party anymore. The Democrats used to be the party of free speech and free love. The Republican are now singing the free speech song. Every election cycle there seems to be a seesaw battle to woo the other sides voters with supercharged rhetoric. Trump wooed the blue collar crowd to build his base. There are a limited number of votes and there are only a handful of ways to increase one party’s share in an election. Create division and single issue voters and peel away the other party’s voters. Steal them. Accuse the other party of stealing them. Import voters from other countries (immigration). It’s a nasty business! When a candidate has to raise a billion dollars to sow division and doubt to win a million votes to sway an election (a thousand dollars per vote) , we’ll something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

[Ivy]

I was a reliably conservative voter for much of my life.  But in the last 10 years of so I've migrated a bit to the left.  A lot of these polarizing issues are way more nuanced than they are presented as black and white.

 

For example, I might believe I (or you) have a right to own guns for my personal protection or recreation, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with people openly using military style weapons to intimidate their fellow citizens. I could go on about a variety of issues.  It doesn't seem wrong for the government to protect the rights of minorities.  Really, it shouldn't even be necessary, but apparently it is.

 

What really bothers me these days is how we've decided into separate camps that no longer communicate other than to threaten or ridicule each other.  Millions of people only follow right leaning news networks, and never hear the other side of issues.  And for millions of others the reverse is true.  Neither side is opposed to outright lies if it enhances their position.  And of course we have an essentially two party system, so there's no political middle ground.

 

When a former president ran for office using a Neo-fascist play book, it bothered me, even though I was still leaning to the right on a lot of issues.  Now that party seems to be using these same tactics to solidify minority rule - gleefully pointing out that we are a "republic" not a "democracy".  I believe Aleksandr Solzhennitsyn said that people get the government they deserve. 

[Aggie1]

2 hours ago, Ivy said:

And of course we have an essentially two party system, so there's no political middle ground.

Which surprises me. Given the barrage of wedge issues we’re accosted with every election cycle. If these issues were truly authentic and grassroots a party would form to push each one of them. But since one or the other of the two major parties is in a death match they manufacture these issues and blow them out of proportion either to GOTV or to peel off “uncommitted” voters which I think means voters who haven’t identified with a single hot button issue that one side of the other has managed to claim as theirs. When allegiances switch sides there are claims of election interference or voter intimidation. Frankly I’m sick of it. We need more choices. 

[Heather Nicole]

3 hours ago, Aggie1 said:

The Republican are now singing the free speech song.

 

They certainly claim to, but it's clear from their positions they don't know (or care) what free speech is about.

[Marcie Jensen]

Some great points have been raised here by everyone.  As to political parties/leanings, I was raised in a very left leaning household, became a moderate Republican while in the army, and have since drifted toward a classic Libertarian posture; by which I mean government should be kept as small and inoffensive as possible, private where private belongs, public where it's needed and an admission that circumstances make a difference in how a situation should be viewed and resolved. I also freely admit that there are times when my politics are in conflict with my faith. Mostly, I go with the "give-me-an-issue-and I'll-give-you-my-answer" mentality. Can't say this works for everyone, but it does for me. 

 

For example, I'm pro 2nd amendment but don't think the average citizen should own a howitzer, I'm trying to stay out of the abortion debate due to a huge faith/politics disconnect, hate the death penalty but think that criminals--especially violent ones--should be incarcerated for lengthy sentences without parole and that most drugs ought to legalized and taxed highly just as we do with alcohol and tobacco products.  I could go on, but you get the picture.

 

I also like to observe from a historical standpoint what the major parties in this country are doing, as it gives a pretty accurate picture of the current societal issues. Here are a few examples (no judgement, just interesting to me):

 

1. I watched the recent senatorial debate here in AZ and came away a bit dumbfounded. The DEM and GOP candidates spent the entire debate attacking each other, and the moderator largely ignored the Libertarian. He was the only one that pointed out that this country isn't a democracy, rather it's a representative republic (big difference there.) The moderator would cut off the GOP and Libertarian candidates regularly, but let teh DEM drone on. Then in closing comments, he cut off the Libertarian, let the DEM ramble and when the GOP candidate was in the middle of his closing comments, the picture suddenly went to black and there were several political commercials back to back to back for the DEM candidate! If it hadn't been so blatant, it would have been a farce.

 

2. I saw a segment on one of the TV news programs today that showed clips of several candidates from the GOP and the DEMs whose comments were being tracked by members of both parties and self identified independents, and subsequently graded. What was interesting with this was that with one exception (he got Cs form all groups), the Dems consistently ranked the GOP speakers as F- and the DEM speakers as A. The GOP participants consistently ranked the DEM speakers as D and F, with their own party's speakers as As. The independents tended to come down with higher marks for the GOP speakers; B+ as opposed to C- and Ds for the DEMs. My take away was simply a reinforcement of how polarized this nation has become politically. And we wonder why there is gridlock when neither side will even consider what the other side is saying. 

 

3. The media doesn't seem interested in covering what happened in ND last month when a man ran over and killed a teen just because he believed said teen was a Republican. Turned out the kid wasn't a member of either political party. To me, and I mean no offense, when we start killing other folk for their beliefs, then it's time to take a long step back and reconsider our positions. BTW, I'm not saying this is the first or only such incident, it is merely the most recent. And it could easily have been the other way around; it just so happens that this one was done to someone believed to be a Republican.

 

I don't claim to have any answers. Frankly, I would just like to be accepted for myself without labels and without either fear, hatred or being someone's token "trans friend." A tall order, but that would be my preference.

[Colleen Henderson]

6 hours ago, Ivy said:

Millions of people only follow right leaning news networks, and never hear the other side of issues.  

That's my half brother in a nutshell. Nothing but Fox News. I think his wife has been a major influence in that regard. They live a few states away, so I don't have to hear her tiresome "libs"-this and "libs"-that statements.

 

He's a PhD, has decades of research experience, and was an instructor at the Air Force Academy. Highly respected in his field of science, he baffles me by expressing his belief that being gay is a choice and - most recently - that Darwin was a fraud and the earth is only 6000 years old. A visit to the Jurassic Coast in England would quickly prove otherwise, and I do wonder how he would rationalize that copious amount of evidence. 

[Ivy]

Ah…  6000 year old earth - based on the Bible (Hebrew calendar).   I wasted a few years trying to believe this one.  It takes some mental gymnastics and serious denial of reality.  You can go down some really weird rabbit  holes on this one.

 

To be fair, in my post, I also acknowledged there is a potential for this on the other side as well.  

[Bri2020]

15 hours ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

A classical liberal, as in "consistently votes for more freedom and less regulation." 

this is more classically a libertarian. nowadays that term as been skewed to more extreme views but in essence libertarians believe in very minimal government and let me do what I want with the bounds of civil law. Libertarians are very anti tax, social welfare AND government regulations on business and such.  New hampshire is home base for them with "Live Free or Die" motto. They are very "government should mind its own business" mentality. lol

Now the challenge here is while you may have freedoms, does your neighbor? and how should that be addressed?

[JJ_Blossom]

I know how you feel, I being a small business owner get rail roaded by the so called "pay your fair share" and as a trans woman it's obvious the Democrats only use us for our vote they don't want us independent they want us believing that without them we can't live. I am pro 2A got a badass rainbow 9mm in my purse and I am a proud proud woman and I vote red. I have never been assaulted for being trans but I have for wearing my maga hat so there's that to think about. I'm tired of one side saying they are our only hope we're not aliens we're people we can take care of ourselves just get the damn government out of the way. I hope I can bring a little different angle for you much love 

-JJ